Plausible Deniability
by Hemsee
Summary: "You're really big on plausible deniability aren't you, Elena?" A conversation between Katherine and Elena, in which Elena realizes how deep her feelings for Damon really are.


**Summary:** "You're really big on plausible deniability aren't you, Elena?" A conversation between Katherine and Elena, in which Elena realizes how deep her feelings for Damon really are

So, Gossip Girl fans like myself will know what where I pulled that 'plausible deniability' line. It just…fits Damon and Elena's relationship like it fit Dan and Blair's. I thought I just had to use it in this one-shot.

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**~ Plausible Deniability ~**

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Elena sighed as she shrugged on her jacket, and turned the knob of her front door to step outside. Her eyes swept over her surroundings and she suddenly froze, her hand gripping the doorknob so tightly her knuckles whitened. Her mouth thinned as she stared down at her carbon copy.

Katherine smiled cattily. "Hello Elena," she said, her voice a smooth, honeyed drawl; a warped version of Elena's own voice. "I would ask how you've been, but since I don't particularly _care_, we can skip the pleasantries, don't you think?"

"What are you doing here?" Elena hissed, her furious. "Anyone can see us!"

"Mm-hmm, anyone can." Katherine's smile stretched wider as she put a lazy hand on her hip. "I'd like to see how you'd explain that one. Maybe you'll go with the long lost twin sister storyline."

Cursing under her breath, Elena grabbed Katherine's arm and dragged her inside, slamming the door behind her. She silently thanked God that Jenna had gone out earlier with Andie for a very much alcohol-involved girl's night, and wouldn't be home for hours. Jeremy wasn't home either, but she had the sneaking suspicion he was out with Bonnie somewhere.

Elena pushed a hand to her hair, glaring at Katherine. "Now, why don't you tell me why you're here, so you can get the hell out as fast as possible," she said crossing her arms.

Katherine didn't look the slightest bit affected by Elena's words, if anything, she looked amused, and that only infuriated Elena. "My, my, my, haven't we gotten vocal," Katherine murmured, walking until she was directly facing her doppelganger. She caught a lock of Elena's hair between her fingers, twisting it around languidly for a beat or two, before her hand was roughly slapped off and she was pushed away.

Elena's gaze was murderous. "Don't touch me. Just tell me why you're here and _leave_."

Katherine huffed, rolling her eyes. "God, you sound just like Damon right now." Her smile turned sly when Elena tensed. "Speaking of, that's who I came to talk to you about."

Elena frowned, a range of conflicted emotions flitting across her face. "Damon?" she said uncertainly. "Is he alright?" At Katherine's knowing smile, she cleared her throat. "Is there something about him that I need to know?" She watched Katherine move gracefully across the room before she sat down on the sofa, legs crossed.

"A story about him actually; it's quite interesting."

Elena sank down on a nearby chair warily. She waited for Katherine to speak up, but when she remained silent for what felt like hours, Elena grew restless. "Well," she said irritably. "Start talking."

If possible, Katherine was even more amused. She uncrossed her legs and placed her elbows on her knees so that she could lean in as close as she could. "You know Elena," she drawled out. "If I didn't know any better I'd say you care about Damon."

"Of course I care about him. Damon's my _friend_. Go look that up somewhere if you're not sure what it means."

"I've seen enough to know that friends don't get so antsy when talking about their friends," Katherine said, giving her a pointed look.

Elena rolled her eyes, thoroughly exasperated. "Why don't you just get straight to the point for a change Katherine? I am in no mood to deal with you."

"Okay then."

Katherine leaned in closer, as if she was about to tell a grand secret. "Yesterday, I went into Damon's bedroom…half-naked."

Smiling subtly when she caught Elena stiffening, Katherine continued, "A silk top…a pathetic excuse for a robe, my hair all curled up and looking nothing like the straightened mess you put yourself through every day. I was ready to have my wicked way with him." Katherine paused and lifted a shoulder carelessly. "I threw myself at him. I know Damon; he was never able to resist me."

Elena inhaled sharply. "I swear to God Katherine if you –"

"Sweet Damon, he was always such a charmer with his killer blue eyes," Katherine interrupted, sounding so wistful it made Elena's hands curl into angry fists. "Always ready to smile and bring me whatever I wanted, do whatever he needed to do to make me happy. A Prince Charming in the making," she whispered.

"You messed with his mind, even back then," Elena interjected her voice hot and so incredibly _furious_. "He _loved _you, but God forbid you love anyone more than yourself and so you manipulated and _destroyed_ him."

"That I did," Katherine admitted freely, seemingly unconcerned. "I always knew how to work Damon – love is blind and all that – and I was ready to do it again last night." Her brow furrowed, and the beginnings of a frown began to mar her face. "But it didn't work this time."

Elena straightened, no longer filled with a white hot fury. "What?" she asked.

"Last night, I literally threw myself at him. Chatted him up – called him rough and mean and monstrous – got the whole act going and the mood set. I was ready for him and, I thought he was ready for me." Katherine shook her head, like she still couldn't believe what had happened.

"But," Elena prompted, a wild hope she didn't dare believe in expanding in her chest.

Katherine puckered her lips, frowning. "He cupped my face, and just as I thought he was going to kiss me…he threw me off of him. Kicked me out of his room," she said softy, as if she was thinking out loud.

Elena blinked and sat up. "He kicked you out," she repeated slowly.

Katherine gave her a pitying look. "Unfortunately, kicking me out would have been too kind. He strung me along, made me think that I'd have him for sure, _and then _kicked me out." She was still frowning. "Nobody had ever done that to me."

"Rejection's a bitch," Elena offered.

Katherine's smile soured. "Mm-hmm, Damon would know."

"What?" Elena's eyes narrowed.

"Oh, don't give me that, Elena," Katherine said, sighing dramatically as she stood up. "You've been looking at me like you wanted to rip my heart to fucking shreds when I told you about Damon."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Elena replied faintly, her pulse racing just a tad bit faster.

"Oh I think you do." Katherine paused for maximum effect. "You want to have your cake and eat it too. You can't _stand _the fact that, maybe, I'm getting under Damon's skin. That maybe…I'm replacing you in his little, _breakable _heart."

Elena scoffed, standing up as well. She looked at her carbon copy in utter disbelief. "That's crazy, and you know it. I care about Damon, but I love Stefan. What – or who – Damon does isn't any of my business."

Katherine stared at her silently for a minute, shaking her head as she laughed quietly. "And yet, your voice faded off just a little bit at the end," she replied, clucking her tongue. "You're saying something, but you're body's saying otherwise, Elena."

Elena leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Now, Katherine's smile was dazzling, her laughter loud and crystal clear. "Oh my God, I can't believe you," she said, her tone laced with disbelief and amusement. "You're really big on plausible deniability, aren't you Elena?"

Elena averted her eyes.

Katherine walked until she was directly in front of her doppelganger. "Let's be honest here for a minute," she said. "When Damon was with that reporter chick, you couldn't stand the sight of her – same goes with Rose."

"How do you know about –?"

Katherine held up her hand. "I have my ways," she replied simply. "My point is the thought of Damon having eyes for any girl but you, makes you sick. I bet you thought 'gag me' every time you saw him with the Star girl. Damon caring about another girl, _thinking _about another girl, _kissing _another girl makes you see green." Katherine tilted her chin. "Look at you now – you're hands are fisting because you can't even bear me _mentioning _all of this to you. Because it just might be true. You think no one can handle Damon's heart perfectly – you think all the girls will just break his heart like I did. You believe they're not worthy."

Elena still said nothing.

Katherine looked at her, her voice becoming strangely quiet. "But see, thing is, even with all this jealousy and protectiveness, the one that ends up hurting Damon the most is _you_. Because even though you get all jealous and worried about him, you're still too scared to jump into a relationship with him. Your feelings for him are so great, and so powerful they make your feelings for Stefan look _insignificant_. And that's what scares you, Elena – you can't believe you can love a person that much because it's _too much_," Katherine said. "So you back away; you hide between the measurable feelings you have for Stefan, because they're safe. And you end up hurting Damon."

Elena's pressed her lips together. Katherine saw tears collecting at the base of her eyes.

"But Elena, what if Damon finds a girl that's willing to care about him and love him the way you think he deserves to be loved? What if she comes along, and he starts having eyes only for her? What happens then?"

"Stop it," Elena said quietly.

"I'll tell you what," Katherine replied, ignoring her. "He'll forget you, he'll let you live out your safe romance with Stefan, and go off with that girl and be happy already, because you weren't brave enough to _make _him happy."

Elena breathed painfully, her eyes closing as she fought to clear her head. "It's just…I can't…oh, _God_." Her hands fisted at her sides.

Katherine looked at her, face carefully devoid of any expression. "Scary, isn't it?" She said, tilting her head knowingly. "It's like nothing you've ever felt – like you'll lose control if you stop fighting it."

Slowly, Elena nodded, her eyes shifting downwards.

Katherine approached her. "But the scariest part," she whispered. "Is when that person gets tired of waiting and moves on, and you realize that they just don't care about you the way you care about them – and that hurts." She stepped back and regarded Elena with serious eyes. "Damon's waited one hundred and forty-five years for me and look where that got him. You better hurry up; I'll doubt he'll do a repeat."

Katherine stepped out of the living room without a backward glance and headed straight for the door.

"Katherine."

She stopped, turning her head a fraction to look at Elena, whose posture was strangely rigid and determined as she fixed Katherine with burning eyes.

"I love Damon," she said. "I'm in love _with _Damon."

Katherine nodded. "I know," she replied, her mouth curving, before shutting the door behind her.

She turned around, looking entirely too satisfied with herself, as she walked down the steps of the porch. "Oh, hello," she said, stopping at the last step. She looked at him through her eyelashes. "Stopping by for a visit? I think Elena's…otherwise occupied right now, but you would know. You heard it all."

Damon stood, frozen and unflinching as Katherine bumped her shoulder with his. His stormy blue eyes were wide.

"No, fucking way."

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**Author's Note: **So this is quite possibly one of the one-shots I enjoyed writing the most. To be truthful, I don't think I'll receive much response on this one. I've noticed that readers want straightforward Damon/Elena interaction. Which I love to write, it's just that sometimes, as a writer, you like to branch out a bit and try new things. Writing Katherine was definitely my favorite part in this – it was just like she wrote herself!

So, if you've read this story, just give me your opinion about it – every response is valuable to me. I'd really appreciate this.

And since I did steal a line from Gossip Girl, I'd just like to point out how similar Dan and Blair's relationship is to Damon and Elena's (just that Dan and Blair's is progressing a whole lot faster than the latter two). Does any Gossip Girl/Vampire Diaries fan agree?


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